Loosing Steps or wrong configuration for engraving?

Hi,

I have an Issue with my Wabeco F1210 ich is controlled by a Mach3 USB-Board.

I just bought an Springloaded Drag Engraver 2 weeks ago and I have an weired issue, which im unable to solve or even know where to look at, since than.

If the machine engraves outlines of the letter "E" in Arial the top horizontel Line is thiner than the other ones, same for letter F.

I do have the same issue, when I rotate the text 90 degrees.

The letter "L" is engravet with a thin vertical line. Rotated 90 degrees the horizontel line gets thiner.

Now comes the confusing part.

The letter "Z" is displayed right everytime.

If I rotate the whole Text 45 degrees the failure doesnt appear at all.All letters a properly engraved.

So my guess is,something with my Mach3 configuration is wrong.

( I tried estlcam, f-engrave,and corel+gcode encoder with the same results)

Does someone know what im doing wrong?

does you machine have gears or a belt? sounds like it could be a gear issue, when they get worn they tend to do stuff like that, try re-seating the gears, if you notice improvement then problem solved.

also, if you tried posting the file with various programs, its probably the art or the machine itself.

I would isolate the problem by figuring out if the problem comes from the (generared) gcode or if there is a SW/HW issue. As it relates to the gcode, start with a simple "straight" font (sans serif, not serif) and e.g. a letter "E". This should result in gcode creating simple line movements. Then you can see if there are differences in the coordinates. If no, you can focus on the SW/HW side.

That sounds like an issue with how the sheet of material you're engraving on is being held. If the line in the middle is thinner than the ones on the end, that could be because the material is bowing downward slightly. If you glue it down to something truly flat and fairly thick, that might solve the problem.

Thanks for all the replies.

I made a few pictures.

https://ibb.co/vXQPdVD

https://ibb.co/dKJG9tS

https://ibb.co/q028bqj



Maybe those will help to identify my problem.

I checked the belts of the machine this week and they seem to be fine. Nevertheless, there is a bit of backlash in y direction, which seems to result between the studding and mechanic below the working table and lead to the "circles" you can see in the link. But is this also the reason for the letter Problem?


I would like to understand the problem, before I disassemble the whole mechanism and maybe look after the wrong cause. So, its possible this failure occurs because of the backlash? If so, why are the other lines of the E in the same direction correct?

The bowing of the material was also my very first thougt, but its everytime in the exact same spot.

My new favorite letter is the "T" because the left side of the T is correct and the other side is wrong.

Im really clueless

You might have a backlash issue.

On the T and E image, the lower left corner E has a dangler, so it doesn't look like it returned to the same starting point, if that is where it started.

At the end of the top of the E, it has to reverse the first axis direction and if there is slack, the motors move a bit before the backlash is taken up and then the short edge of the E is made. The rest of the movements continue and the backlash is taken up on that axis so you don't notice it, until you reach your starting point, you see that danger... I will also suggest that the back side of the E looks fatter than it should be - maybe because backlash on that axis too.

I'm not sure in your original post if you mean that you do NOT have the issue when the text is rotated, but it might depend on the last movement the machine made before starting the letter.

Also, the other image with circles, they look like squared circles and if they are supposed to be circles, backlash will make circles kind of look like ovals or somewhat squared circles.

The T really illustrates the issue.

The 45° degree letters do not really look like they have 90° corners to me, at least the very short moves where backlash would be a large percentage of the total move.